The Mentor
by LadyxMadonna
Summary: After "The Sunshine State" 4x16 Gretchen awakens in a hospital and finds that her doctor is a woman she thought had died long ago. Life changes in drastic ways for Gretchen and the doctor. Hints at Gretchen/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **None of the characters you recognize are mine; they are property of FOX and I'm sure numerous other people (none of which are me). I make no money through the use (…misuse…abuse…lol) of these characters.

**A/N: **Before you ask, I don't know. There was this little plot bunny and it nagged me til I wrote this. So enjoy. Or don't. Reviews are appreciated; flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

* * *

Smell was the first sense to return and unfortunately what she smelled turned her stomach. Antiseptic and bleach with an undercurrent of human suffering that could only mean one thing, she was in a hospital. It was hearing next, with snippets of conversation floating in now and again, jumbling together into meaningless nonsense. And the incessant squeak of a nurse's rubber soled shoes in the hall outside her room -- that particular sound drove her up the wall. Then it was touch. The stiff, scratchy blankets, the cold, hard metal of the handcuff chaining her to the bed and a dull throb below her ribs invaded her cozy, dreamless sleep. Finally it was sight. Giving everything a hazy glow, the blackness receded slowly. It seemed surreal at first, motion was slowed and her senses still dulled. Her arms and legs felt loaded with lead as she tried to move them.

It seemed like hours before anyone noticed she was finally awake. The nurse who came in to check her almost left without realizing it until she managed to eke out a groan. The nurse spun around and returned to the bed.

"Well, well, look who's decided to join us in the land of the living! Let me go get the doctor, there are lots of people with questions for you!"

The nurse left and Gretchen struggled to piece together what had happened. If she recalled correctly, Self and Burrows had been ready to shoot her between the eyes, in fact she was fairly certain Burrows had had a pistol pointed at her head. But Mahone had talked him out of it -- that was interesting. She filed that little piece of information away for later. She had heard sirens before she blacked out and, judging by the unfashionable steel bracelet connecting her to the bed, she'd been brought to the hospital and was now under police guard. Before her foggy brain had time to process any more of the fragmented memories, the door reopened and a doctor entered.

"Well hello Jane Doe," the doctor said, her face hidden by a chart. But Gretchen knew the voice and it chilled her to the core. When the doctor finally placed the chart on the table, Gretchen got a look at her. She had changed. Her previously short blonde hair was now long and chestnut, her freckled skin more pale and smooth and there were slight adjustments to her cheekbones, brow and nose. But there was no mistaking it – it was her.

"Kate Nobel," Gretchen whispered. She was surprised by the doctor's sudden movements -- in seconds there was a forearm on her neck, cutting off her precious air supply.

"Call me that again and I'll snap your neck. It's Leah Clarke now," the doctor snarled. Gretchen nodded, clawing at the doctor's arm. "Good girl. You always were a quick learner." She released Gretchen and allowed her to catch her breath.

"I thought you were dead," Gretchen choked. "There was a funeral. The General was devastated."

"Yes, well what that old coot doesn't know, won't hurt him. I assume since you're here in my plain little civilian hospital that the Company has disowned you?" Gretchen nodded. "My, my you must have done something pretty awful for the General to give up his favourite little pet. Did that annoying little daughter of his get in the way?"

"No."

"Come now Gretchen, I've kept your identity a secret all week, you could at least throw me a bone. Aren't we old friends after all?"

"A secret?"

"Here have a look at your chart, Jane Doe #251. What was I supposed to say 'Oh, that's Gretchen Morgan, we go way back.' I get the feeling that if the Company knew you were here, they'd feel inclined to pay you a visit, and that would just be a mess."

"I tried to seduce the General and steal his card," she said it so quietly that she wasn't sure the doctor had even heard her, a harsh chuckle told her otherwise.

"Well it looks like someone's lost their touch. Used to be all you needed was ten minutes and you could seduce anyone into anything. Why would you even want the card? You know you need all six to access Scylla. And on that note, why would you want Scylla?"

"Some friends of mine had already acquired the other five. They were going to take down the company. I was going to sell it," Gretchen admitted, hating that this woman still had so much power over her.

"Wait a minute. Did you just say 'friends'? Gretchen Morgan is not the friend type. And how in hell did they get their hands on _five_ cards!? You seem to have gotten yourself into quite the interesting situation." The doctor glanced at the door, knowing that time was running out. The nurse had agreed, after some persuasion, to give her fifteen minutes before letting the detective in charge of Gretchen's case know that she was awake and coherent. The flatfoot on the door had just nodded off, though not before being coerced into giving the doctor a spare handcuff key. If she was going to get Gretchen out, it had to be now.

"I don't know really. This is probably the biggest mess I've ever been in. There are so many people, with so many agendas, all gunning for Scylla and we don't even know who has it anymore."

"Okay we'll be coming back to that little tidbit soon but at the moment we need to get you the hell out of here, otherwise our friendly neighbourhood detective will be on your ass, and not in a good way."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Shut up and lie still darling, you're going for an MRI," the doctor told her, releasing the breaks and pushing the hospital bed out the door, past the sleeping cop and onto an empty elevator.

* * *

Aboard the elevator Leah Clarke palmed the handcuff key and quickly unlocked Gretchen's cuffs. She didn't miss the obvious look of bewilderment in the other woman's eyes when she pressed the button for the 'parking' level but at the moment her only concern was getting Gretchen off hospital grounds before anyone caught on. Dropping her heavy Prada bag on the end of the bed she withdrew a simple black dress, high heels and a lab coat.

"Get up," the doctor ordered, "And put this on. I don't want anyone watching security cams getting suspicious." Gretchen did as ordered, wincing in pain but not complaining. When the elevator reached the parking level the doctor motioned Gretchen to exit, following close behind. Before exiting she pressed the button for the top floor of the hospital after using a key to flip the car over to express, meaning no stops on the way up. Gretchen carried the bag as they walked in silence to a dark green Mini Cooper. Gretchen looked from the expensive handbag to the expensive car and then to the plastic-surgery-enhanced doctor currently sliding behind the wheel.

"Well looks like you've done well since you died," Gretchen remarked as she lowered herself gingerly into the passenger seat.

Leah just smirked and took the bag from Gretchen; tossing it into the back seat. With tires squealing, the doctor roared out of the parking structure and onto the street.

"Where are we going?" Gretchen asked, chastising herself for having so much blind faith in a woman she hadn't seen in years.

"Somewhere to talk about Scylla and to decide whether or not I'll be joining your little grail quest."

"I'm not sure I'd be welcomed back with loving arms. I almost got the other four killed."

"Oh darling just because you've lost your touch at seduction doesn't mean we all have. Perhaps you need a refresher course?" Leah's hand moved from the gearshift to Gretchen's thigh, sliding upwards suggestively. Gretchen tensed and blushed when the doctor laughed, pulling her hand away and dropping the car into fourth as the sped onto the highway.

* * *

**A/N:** This is only going to be maybe one or two chapters more. I know not much happened here but please bear with me! I will update when I get a chance (heading to cottage country for five days tomorrow so it will be after that due to the whole lack of internet!)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Prison Break and all associated characters are not mine.

A/N: I know. It's been almost a year. I write in fits and starts, I'd never make it as an author. Here's installment #2 with a third to follow (hopefully without the eight month waiting period). Just so everyone is aware there's allusions to a F/F relationship in this chapter, nothing graphic but it's there. Read it or don't but you can't say you weren't warned. Reviews would be loverly, flames will be used to toast marshmallows for smores.

* * *

The beach house was, to put it simply, stunning. It sat daringly atop a cliff, a long winding staircase led down to the sandy shore and aquamarine water below. Gretchen gingerly extracted herself from the car, the salt wind tangling her hair and awakening her more fully.

"This place is gorgeous Leah," Gretchen breathed, trailing her fingers along the worn wooden railing on the staircase. Leah smiled and motioned for Gretchen to follow her inside. The car blipped it's locking affirmation as Gretchen tore herself away from the breathtaking view and followed the other woman up the steps and through the French doors at the back of the house.

"Sit down, I need to change your bandages," Leah instructed. Gretchen sat obediently, nervously picking at the edge of the sofa cushion. There was a sudden sharp stab behind Gretchen's ribs when she twisted away from Leah and she gasped, doubling over in pain. "Want something to take the edge off?" Leah asked, waggling a syringe in front of her eyes. Gretchen nodded, barely even feeling the pinch as Leah injected the drug.

Within a few seconds, the drug started to take effect and as Gretchen's world grew a little blurry at the edges, the pain receded into an almost unnoticeable ache. "Ride the high, baby," Leah laughed and pushed Gretchen lightly back on the couch.

* * *

The moon was the first thing Gretchen saw when she came out of her drug induced haze. It was swollen and milk white, hanging low over the horizon with the ocean lapping at its edge. Gretchen rolled onto her back, mindful of her ribs which protested mildly. The ceiling fan spun lazily overhead and before she could begin to think clearly, she was gone again.

* * *

A gull cried merrily outside her window and the waves crashed onto the beach, finally pulling Gretchen awake. She took stock of her current situation. Number one: she'd just found out that Kate wasn't dead, she was alive and well as Leah. Number two: her ribs hurt like hell because there had been a fucking bullet pumped into her. Number three: Scylla was gone and she needed it back badly. Number four: she smelled coffee and pancakes and she was starving. She filed one through three and rolled out of bed for breakfast before coming up with number five: someone (Leah) had stripped her of the little black dress and re-dressed her in pyjamas while she was unconscious.

Gretchen wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Leah having such control over her even after all these years. When Gretchen had first joined the Company, Leah had been little more than a teenager. But it was always Leah that the General went to for his most difficult assignments, always Leah who he trusted with the most classified of information. Finally, one day, drunk out of her mind, Gretchen had begged Leah to tell her why the General favoured her. Her answer?

"Because _I _know how to control myself."

That was the last time Gretchen ever allowed herself to lose control. At the General's orders Leah began to teach her everything that had gotten her to where she was in the Company. At seventeen, Leah had been with the Company for four years already, the story being that the General had taken her under his wing when her parents, company operatives, had been killed on a mission. Leah was definitely a dominant person and Gretchen had always submitted willingly because she wanted to know everything that Leah could teach her. Their relationship had been tumultuous and confusing. Morphing from enemies, to a student-teacher bond, to friends and at one very messed up point, lovers.

"Good morning." Leah's voice caused Gretchen to nearly leap out of her skin. Gretchen wondered how long Leah had been standing at the doorway watching her.

"M-m-morning," she stammered back, clutching her side which was now complaining loudly about the sudden movement. Leah noticed the pain,

"Want something for that?" Gretchen pursed her lips and shook her head no. "I won't give you as much as yesterday if that's what you're worried about." Gretchen hesitated and then gave in.

Leah led Gretchen to the expansive kitchen and tapped the back of the chair she wanted Gretchen to sit in before sitting down herself. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Gretchen noticed images on the muted television on the counter.

"Turn that up!" she told Leah frantically.

"You don't want me to do that," Leah told her.

"Yes I do! Those are the cons I was working with! Were they caught?!"

"No."

"God damn it Leah! What the fuck is going on?!"

"They've been pardoned Gretchen. All of them except Theodore Bagwell."

"What? How the hell did that happen?!"

"They gave it up." Gretchen's breath caught and her heart started to pound. Leah couldn't possibly mean what Gretchen thought she meant. "Scylla," Leah clarified, "they handed it over to the UN an hour ago. The president is having a press conference in a few minutes to commend them all for protecting national security and basically saving the world". Gretchen couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. Scylla had been her one chance. She could have taken the money she got for it, taken her daughter and headed for the hills without ever looking back.

"I'm gonna be sick," Gretchen lurched from the table and ran in the direction Leah pointed. She slammed though the bathroom door just in time to lose all of the breakfast she'd just eaten. When her stomach was empty she rinsed her mouth out at the sink and splashed cold water on her face, still feeling weak and dizzy.

"I'm sorry Gretchen," Leah whispered from the doorway, the woman had a hell of a way of sneaking up on people. Gretchen just shook her head and pushed Leah out of the way. Gretchen slammed the bedroom door as hard as she could, trying to convey her want for privacy.

Gretchen lay down on the bed and scratched number three off her list, changing it instead to 'Kill Michael Scofield." She brushed angrily at the tears that were trickling down her cheeks, wanting nothing more than for everything to go back to the way it had been before she'd left the Company. She knew the world then, what to expect and how to get what she wanted, but now she felt lost and, if she were honest with herself, a little bit scared. Gretchen heard the door click open as Leah entered and she sighed, apparently Leah didn't take hints well. The bed sank slightly as Leah sat down quietly and Gretchen tensed as she felt Leah's hand on her shoulder. Gretchen rolled onto her back so she was looking up at Leah. Their eyes locked and, after a moments hesitation, Leah lowered her lips to Gretchen's.

Gretchen was surprised at how familiar and comforting it felt to be with Leah, even after so much time had passed. She still tensed as Leah's hands wandered but if there was one thing Gretchen knew, it was that resisting Leah was futile. Even is she started out adamantly against it, she knew Leah could convince her. For her part, Leah knew what Gretchen needed. It was so easy to fall into old patterns, and recall everything about a former lover but Leah was better than most. Gretchen had only ever admitted that Leah was a great fuck. On a deeper level she knew that Leah was only great because Leah knew her so intimately.

* * *

Gretchen lay feeling rather boneless in Leah's guestroom. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this relaxed and satiated. Gretchen had never had the luxury of being a greedy lover. A hazard of dealing in sex, you gave what was asked to get what you wanted. But Leah let her be greedy. She catered to her every whim and it was strangely comforting.

Leah propped herself up on an elbow so she could look into Gretchen's eyes and asked the one question she'd been dying to ask ever since Gretchen had first rolled into her hospital.

"Why did you go rogue?"

"I wanted out. You know as well as I do that you don't just walk up to the General and hand in your two weeks. Scylla was my way to get some cash and disappear."

"Why did you want to leave though? Once I left you must have slid into the General's pocket." Gretchen hesitated.

"Why did you leave?" She countered.

"I was sick of being a commodity," Leah said. "You know the story that got passed around? That my parents had been agents and when they died the General adopted me? All lies. When I was twelve the General purchased me from my parents, a couple of coked out losers, for five thousand dollars. From that point on, I was nothing more than a tool, I wasn't human anymore to him. As far as he was concerned, he owned me and therefore I would do whatever he asked of me."

"Wow…" That was not the answer Gretchen had expected ; she spilled her own secret, "I'm a mother. And my little girl doesn't even know it. She thinks I'm her aunt. I wanted the money I could get from Scylla so I could take her and disappear. Be a real mother and give her the love she deserves."

"Well. The Company certainly has a way of fucking up lives doesn't it?" Leah smiled. "We could still disappear you know. You can see I'm not exactly hard up for cash. I can have fake passports and ID in less than twenty four hours and we can be on a plane to Fiji or Costa Rica or wherever the hell we feel like."

"But… Emily. I can't leave her Leah."

"We'll work it all out. It's time we moved on and got as far away from the Company as we possibly can."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Nothing you recognize is mine, please don't sue me!

**A/N:**Okay apologies for the major blonde moment yesterday where I double posted the last chapter. Here's the right one, and enjoy it 'cause it's also the last!

* * *

Gretchen looked at the passports fanned out on the table in front of her.

"These are good Leah," she said, "We won't have any problems getting across the border?"

"No way, I told you, Keenan is the king. He may still be Company but he also has a thing for me so it's not very difficult to get what I want. These are totally untraceable, even by the Company. Why do you think no one has ever found me?"

Gretchen flipped open the top passport and saw her own face staring back at her, the name "Connor, Stella Vittoria" beside her photo. Next she opened the passport containing Leah's new identity, "Wyatt, Eden Astoria". The bottom passport was destined for the one final loose end in this whole big song and dance; Emily was to become "Conner, Emilia Brynn".

"Is everything ready?" Gretchen asked. She had been getting more and more nervous as the time to flee approached. Leah was still working out some of the finer details and she hadn't exactly told Gretchen how they would be getting Emily.

"Pretty well," Leah told her, being intentionally vague.

"What about Emily? How is it going to work? You know my sister will never give her up willingly."

"I know Gretchen," Leah said exasperatedly. "I have a plan."

"God damn it Leah! Tell me what's going on," Gretchen demanded.

"Fine," Leah sighed. "At 1:00pm today Emily's school will get a phone call saying that her mother and aunt are on their way to pick Emily up for her grandfather's funeral. He died this morning and as a devout Jew expressed his wish to be buried before sundown. You and I will arrive at Emily's school at 1:20pm in a black limousine with fake plates and darkly tinted windows. You'll wait outside the car for Emily to come out of school and you'll get her into the limo without a fuss. From the school we'll head directly to a private airstrip where a lovely pilot who works on a 'don't ask, don't tell' philosophy will load us onto his plane and head straight for Cuba. You'll have noticed that those passports are Canadian, it seemed easier that way. When we land in Cuba we'll be picked up by another limousine which will drive us to the sugar cane plantation I've purchased. And then we live happily ever after. Or whatever."

"Wow. That's…wow."

"I told you Gretchen, I have this under control. Oh and the moment our plane takes off, all computer records of your sister's adoption of Emily will be destroyed. It will be like you never gave her up."

"Thank you Leah. For everything I mean. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't ended up in your hospital." Leah laughed,

"You'd have gone to prison and then been shanked in the showers on the General's orders to ensure you didn't roll."

* * *

"

"Hill Valley Public School, how may I help you today?"

"This is Rita Morgan," Leah began, doing a fairly convincing imitation of Gretchen's sister, "I need to pick Emily up. Her grandfather passed away this morning and his funeral is scheduled for three."

"Of course Ms. Morgan, I'm so sorry for your loss. We'll have Emily ready to go and at the doors when you get here."

"Thank you so much. And if you don't mind, could you please not tell Em why I'm coming to get her? I'd rather break the news myself."

"Of course. Good bye Ms. Morgan."

Leah hung up the phone as the limousine rolled away from the beach house. She was going to miss that house but she was happy to at least have company now, she'd been alone for far too long.

"That was good Leah, I'm impressed! You picked up her voice just from a few stupid voicemails she left me…" Leah just smiled.

Gretchen was wearing a suitably sombre black dress and was mentally preparing herself to see her daughter again. It felt like it had been years since she'd last been able to give Emily a hug and tell her she loved her.

"Gretchen, I've been thinking. It's probably best you stay in the car and I get out to get Emily." Gretchen began to protest but Leah cut her off, "The Company has facial recognition software, if the school has cameras, the Company might get a hit on you. I've had just enough work done that I'm unrecognizable to the program."

"Okay. But don't scare her. I still don't know how I'm going to explain all this to her. How do you tell a child that the woman she thinks is her mother, isn't really her mother and that you're taking her to a new country to live and she never gets to see her "mom" again?"

"I can't say darlin'. I think it's something that is going to take a while for her to get used to." Leah said as she pinned a black hat and veil into her hair.

"You look like you belong in an Audrey Hepburn movie," Gretchen told her.

"Well I don't want to spook Emily before she even gets to the car, and I don't want anyone from the school asking who I am. They need to assume I'm Rita." The limo stopped outside the school and without a moment's hesitation, Leah stepped out. Gretchen watched through the tinted window as Leah bowed her head slightly and pulled a white handkerchief from her purse. Gretchen watched as Emily bounded down the front steps of the school, a teacher watching her from the door as she approached Leah. Leah knelt down and spoke softly to Emily, and then ushered her into the car. With a small wave she dismissed the teacher and got back into the limo.

"Hi Auntie!" Emily threw her arms around Gretchen's neck.

"Hey Emily." Gretchen searched for the words to begin explaining what was going on when she felt Emily slump into her arms, becoming dead weight. "Emily? Emily!"

"Oh relax she's fine," Gretchen looked over to see Leah recapping a syringe.

"What the hell Leah!?"

"I couldn't risk her blowing out cover. It's just a sedative, I'm going to keep her out until we get her to the plantation. It'll be easier this way, I promise." Gretchen was seething, she couldn't believe Leah would drug Emily without even so much as a word of warning.

Leah took Emily out of Gretchen's arms and laid her across the bench seat. With her back to Gretchen she went to work, powdering Emily's face and hiding all of her hair up underneath a knit cap. When she moved away, Gretchen's heart nearly stopped, Emily looked deathly ill. Her face was white as a sheet with purplish-blue rings beneath her eyes and not a strand of her hair was visible.

"She looks like a caner patient," Gretchen said.

"Good, that's what I was going for. Our pilot thinks he's flying us to Cuba for Emily's dying wish and that the _Make A Wish Foundation_turned her down because of the restrictions on trave to Cuba."

When they arrived at the airport, Leah lifted Emily out of the limo and lowered her into a wheelchair produced by their driver. Leah handed him a small duffel bag and after loading their luggage onto the plane, the driver left without a word.

"Afternoon ladies," the pilot tipped his hat as he approached. "I can carry the little one up the stairs if you'd like."

"Thank you," Leah said, following him to the stairs. Gretchen walked slowly behind Leah, looking around at the United States for the last time.

"There's plenty of food on board," the pilot told them, "You all help yourselves once we reach cruising altitude."

The flight was uneventful and the landing smooth since the Cuban authorities believed the flight had originated in Canada, not the US.

"Dr. Wyatt, Ms. Connor, I hope you all have a great time here. And I'll pray for a miracle for that little girl there," he nodded to a still sleeping Emily.

"Thank you David," Leah handed the pilot a duffel bag that looked very much like the one the limo driver had gotten and motioned for Gretchen to get into the waiting car.

* * *

The plantation was nothing short of spectacular, the view from the front windows was miles of sandy beaches and ocean while the back boasted sugar cane as far as the eye could see.

"So this is the happily ever after then?" Gretchen asked.

"I sure as hell hope so," Leah responded, "Because I am damn sick of running." Both women looked over to the couch where Emily was beginning to stir. "I hope you've decided what to tell her because I'm out of diazepam and she's going to be awake and asking questions in about ten minutes."

"The truth," Gretchen said. "She's been lied to all her life. And I've done most of the lying, so it's time she finally found out once and for all."

"Okay. She needs to understand that she can never go back. I can get untraceable phones that she can use to call Rita on occasion, but she can't go back. None of us can."

"I know. And I know I made the right decision."

"Auntie?" Emily asked, sounding a little afraid. "Where are we?"

* * *

Three weeks later Emily's face was stil plastered all over the news. No one had quite put it together yet, that Gretchen and Leah had escaped together, kidnapped Emily and fled the country and that suited them just fine. Emily was settling in, she'd met some local children and was learning Spanish. She seemed happy and most of the shock of what Gretchen had told her seemed to have worn off. Leah prayed every day that no one decided to roll on them and give them away and thanked her lucky stars that Cuba and the US couldn't learn to play together nicely. Emily had spoken with Rita, and like the good girl she was had kept her location and the identity of her abductors from Rita. To put it simply, life was good.

...The End...


End file.
